


Lacham

by agentlukaofshield (lukadarkwater)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergent, F/M, in which jemma finally fights for fitz, mostly because this is what I would LIKE to see happen not what I actually think will happen, some vague canon norm descriptions of violence and torture, speculation for 3X09 & 3X10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 07:25:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5282009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lukadarkwater/pseuds/agentlukaofshield
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lacham: The Hebrew word that means to fight.</p><p>After Fitz is taken by Ward in the middle of a mission, Bobbi, May, and Jemma set out alone to bring him back and Jemma is finally forced to deal with her feelings towards her best friend. </p><p>(Based on speculations I had about what was going to happen in episode 3X09 and 10 after the first trailer for the episodes came out though, due to recent press releases, I now suspect that it's going to be much further from canon than I once thought)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Ah, Fitzsimmons. Exactly the people I was hoping to meet.”  
Ward. Ward was here. He was standing right in front of them and Jemma felt her entire system fill with icy fear as his crazed eyes pinned them in place.

\---

As Jemma fiddled with her tablet, she watched Fitz out of the corner of her eye.

He was bent over his drones case, as per usual, and she couldn’t help being distracted by him.

It wasn’t exactly the first time they had been out in the field during a mission but it was the first time since Trip, since the Monolith, since the kiss.

She shivered even now as she recalled their first kiss. Throughout the years, she had occasionally wondered what it would be like to kiss Fitz. At the time, she had told herself that these thoughts were fueled by natural human curiosity and nothing more. 

Why couldn’t she, a healthy attractive female, wonder what kissing her healthy attractive best friend would be like? To her analytical brain, it had made perfect sense at the time and besides that, the likelihood of it actually happening was so slim that she could cast the thoughts aside with little consequence.

But then the medpod happened and everything changed. 

All of a sudden, thoughts like that became loaded. No longer was it simply a scientific curiosity, now it was something that could be real, if she wanted it to be. 

Still, she had always imagined, before and after learning that Fitz was in fact in love with her, that their first kiss would be slow and a bit awkward. A simple brushing of lips and blushes and nothing more.

Their actual kiss had been completely different. 

It was hot and fast and hands clutching at her waist, taking her breath away and sending sharp jolts of warmth south as he pushed her up against the table.

Even now, the memory of it caused a faint blush to bloom over her neck and she ducked down behind her hair, thankful that it had grown out enough for her to be able to effectively hide behind it again.

“There we go.” Fitz muttered next to her, pulling her back to the present.  
She turned to look at him just in time to see one of his new drones fly up into the air. It hovered there for a moment before it went whizzing away to do a sweep of the area.

“Simmons, are those coms up?” Fitz asked her, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him.

“Just going live now,” she answered, tapping away on her own screen and hearing the beep in her ear as the small ear piece connected to their network.

“Coms are a go,” she said and was greeted by Coulson's voice in response.

“Good. After Happy finishes the sweep, our agents will move in.”

Daisy and Mack joined in on the conversation as they waited and Jemma tried to ignore the bundle of nerves that had settled deep in her chest. 

Ever since the realization that Hydra had been playing the ATCU from the inside, Coulson had been on warpath. He had told the team that he was tired of hiding in the the shadows and that they needed to cut off this particular head before things got too out of control. That goal had lead them to the present day.

She and Fitz were currently in the basement of a department store a block away from where the rest of the team had covertly surrounded a building. They had gotten wind eairler that day that Ward might be hiding within it. While she and Fitz ran back up and surveillance, the rest of the team would storm the building and attempt to take Ward down before he slipped away once more. 

However, everything seemed too quiet to Jemma. 

Happy was almost done with his sweep and so far, nothing could be seen. She watched Fitz’ jaw clench tighter and his brows draw together as his own worry began to set in.

He had turned his head slightly, as if to say something to her, when everything exploded.

It didn’t physically explode per-say but it felt like it did to Jemma.

The door in front of them was kicked open and both she and Fitz were on their feet instantly. 

“Ah, Fitzsimmons. Exactly the people I was hoping to meet.”

Ward. Ward was here. He was standing right in front of them and Jemma felt her entire system fill with icy fear as his crazed eyes pinned them in place.

“Ward is here!” Fitz yelledd into his coms, pushing Jemma behind him in the process. 

There was no response but a burst of static in their ears and Ward’s dark eyes continued to watch them, a faint smile of amusement playing on his face.

“I’m afraid no one is going to come save you two just yet.” He said, “They are a bit busy with some of my friends at the moment.”

“What the hell do you want, Ward?” Fitz all but snarled, his grip tightening around Jemma’s wrist.

“Well you see, I’m in need of that big brain of yours, Fitz. You have something that Hyrda wants.”

“Oh? A handbook for not betraying your friends and teammates?” Fitz spit back, but Ward only shook his head. 

“Are you still upset about that? Come on, Fitz, you need to stop letting yourself get so attrached to people. It always seems to end badly for you.”

Fitz jumped forward a little at that and only Jemma grabbing his arm stopped him.

“You piece of-”

“Anyway,” Ward said, cutting him off. “I need certain information about how you got her back.” 

He guested to Jemma and she felt her stomach twist.

“Go to hell.”

Ward sighed, “You know, Fitz, for once in your life why don’t you just come quietly instead of putting up a fight.” 

“Not an option.” With that, Fitz hit a button on his watch and a blinding flash filled the space. 

Jemma couldn’t see anything but she felt Fitz’ hand in hers and they were running. 

She stumbled blindly after him as he led her through the twisty basement. Somewhere behind them, she could hear shouts and the sound of pounding feet as Hydra chased them. As Jemma’s vision returned, she registered that Fitz had stopped running and she almost crashed into his back.

She could hear curses pouring from his lips and she looked up to see why.

They had come to a dead end.

They stood in the boiler room for the building and the only way out looked to be a small window that was level with the street outside. Fitz slammed the door shut behind them and shoved over an old filing cabinet in front of it turning to her and gripping her shoulders.

“Jemma, you’ve got to get out of here.”

“Fitz-”

“Do not argue with me right now, Jemma, we don’t have the time.” Without waiting for her response, he dragged her to the widow and reached up to open it.

“Get out of here, go find the team, and use my tracker to find me okay?”

“Fitz, no! There is no way I’m leaving you here!” she clutched at his shirt, the fear induced adrenaline roaring in her ears.

Fitz pulled her into his arms, surprising her as his warmth encircled her for a brief moment. 

“There is no time to talk about this, Jemma.” He mumbled into her hair and, even as he said it, the shouts of their pursuers came closer. “One of us needs to get out of here, they cannot be allowed to take us both.”

“No” she gasped, tears swimming in her eyes.

“Think about it, Jemma,” he pulled back a bit, “you’re smaller and faster than I am. You have a better chance of escape and I have a better chance of surviving their t- their capture.” he said, his voice breaking a bit.

“Fitz…”

“Go” he said, and then out of nowhere, he grabbed her jaw with his hand, pulling his face down so it was even with hers. “Go Jemma. Go and be free.”

His blue eyes were all she could see as he pressed his lips to hers for a fleeting kiss before bending down to form a step with his hands.

She hesitated, her mind full of fear, the taste of his lips, and his burning blue eyes.

“Fitz-” she began.

“DAMN IT, JEMMA LEAVE!” Fitz shouted, his eyes electric blue and shiny from something that looked like tears. 

A crash sounded from the door and she knew time was up. She used his hands to clamber her way out of the window as the door slammed open in the small room.

She looked down through the widow and her eyes met Fitz’ own through the small sliver of sunlight that shone down into the room.

He gazed up at her like he was trying to memorize everything about her in the few seconds he had before the agents got to him and then, with a final glance he turned and walked out of her sight. 

\---

Jemma could hardly remember how she got back to the team. All she could hear was the roar in her ears, all she could see was a pair of blue eyes burning into hers, and all she could feel were his lips hot-and-sad against hers.

Bobbi got to her first. 

She and Hunter had been running perimeter and they had rushed to find Jemma and Fitz after Coulson realized what was happening.

“Jemma!” The older women yelled and pulled Jemma into her embrace.

“Jemma, oh my god what happened? Where is Fitz?”

The sound of his name pushed ice into her heart and she stared up at Bobbi not seeing her at all.

“Ward. Ward took him.”

\---

Over the next three days, the Playground dissolved into a mess of activity. 

Coulson was furious that Hydra had taken one his own agents and his anger only burned stronger at remembering that the mission had been not out of necessity but out of his own need for revenge. He threw himself into trying to find Fitz but the new Hydra had fewer moles and less information among them and he kept hitting wall after wall in his search.

After quickly determining that the multiple trackers on Fitz had been disabled before he had left the city, the rest of the agents turned to outside sources. They called in old friends, acquaintances, people who they had used on missions, but everything was coming up nothing.  
Jemma watched all of this happen around her. 

A particular kind of numbness had settled into her bones, something she hadn’t felt since the nine long days she spent at Fitz’ bedside during his coma, willing him to wake up.

She knew she should be out of her mind with worry, knew she should be helping the team try to find Fitz but for the moment, she could barely function.

She did try to assist them but what they really needed now was insider information and Jemma had nothing to offer. After a few hours, she locked herself in the lab during the day and no one disturbed her. During that time, she stared at the research on the Monolith that they had gathered, the rocks that had once snatched her away from Fitz to the man that waited on the other side, and she couldn’t seem to muster up the same desperation to get back that she once had. 

The guilt that she carried in her stomach finally overwhelmed her on the second night that Fitz was missing. 

She hadn’t slept in over 30 hours and the stress of everything that had been creeping up finally came to a head. She was standing at his desk, flipping through some of his notes on the drones when she had come across the small note that she had once tucked into a sandwich stashed in a bag along with their last hope for Shield. 

“Be safe! Love Jemma.” 

She didn’t know if it was the sudden realization that this was the only time she had said those words to him, when she truly meant that she was in love with him, or the fact that he had kept it with him all this time but as she looked at it, a sob rose up in her throat. 

She didn’t think when she stumbled out of the lab, she was just driven by pure instinct to the door she stood in front of.

Room 105. Right next to her room, 104.

Her hands typed in the familiar passcode - the first four digits of Pi - and she was in his room.

All at once, she was overwhelmed by his presence. He was everywhere. From the unmade bed, to the sketchpad and pencils on his desk, to the shoes lined neatly next to his dresser, he was everywhere and nowhere and the thought only made the tears drip down her face at a faster pace.

She half ran to his dresser, tugging open the third drawer to pull out the first jumper or cardigan she could get her hands on. Her hands closed around a cardigan and she pulled it out, stopping for a moment when she registered which one it was. It was one of his favorites, blue and worn from use, and she couldn’t help but think that, maybe, it was his favorite because she had once said it brought out his eyes. 

She buried her nose into the soft cotton and breathed in his scent. Fitz’ scent was something that had been burned into her memory for years. It smelled like mint and metal along with something that she could only describe as the scent of Fitz. It was the smell of home.

She tugged the cardigan on over her shirt and curled up in his bed, swaddling herself in his duvet as the tears streaked down her face. 

She cried because he was probably hurt, if not dead at this moment, and she had no way of helping him. She cried because she had let him, once again, sacrifice himself for her. She cried because she had realized fully in that moment how very much she loved him and how she might never be able to tell him that. 

That was how Bobbi found her sometime later. She was curled in the fetal position, her eyes red from crying tears that had stopped sometime ago and her hands clutching at his pillow.

The older woman said nothing. She simply crossed the room and sat down beside Jemma, extending one hand and beginning to rub her shoulders.

“He sacrificed himself again. He sacrificed himself for me again.” Jemma finally gasped, fresh tears gathering in her eyes as she finally said the words that had been eating at her chest since she had left Fitz behind. “He sacrificed himself for me and I just let him do it.”

“Jemma, don’t blame yourself. Fitz made his own choices and-”

“Yes, but he always does this. Shoving himself in front of me like it doesn't matter. Like it doesn't matter what happens to him as long as I’m safe.”

“He’s protecting you.”

“Well I can’t take it!” Jemma shrieked, her voice breaking. “I’m going mad with worry for him and there is nothing I can do about it. And the worst part of it all is, I can’t tell him myself! I can’t tell him that I need him to be okay and alive as much as he needs me to be alive and okay! I can’t tell him how much he means to me and how everything will and does fall apart without him!”

Bobbi drew Jemmainto her embrace as she sobbed and let her cry before saying, “What if there was a way?”

“A way to what?” Jemma said, wiping some of the tears off of her face with the back of her hand.

“A way to rescue him.” 

\-----

A while later, Jemma was sitting in Bobbi’s bedroom when the door opened. Bobbi walked in first and, much to Jemma’s surprise, May followed closely behind her.

Since Lash’s true identity was revealed May had been isolating herself from the team. The older agent was present at all the staff meetings but she slipped away as soon as they were over and catching glimpses of her in between these meetings was rare. 

“Simmons,” May said with a nod, noticing her stare.

Jemma didn’t quite know what to say but Bobbi saved her by sitting down on the bed beside her. 

“Jemma, May thinks you may have a way of tracking Fitz.”

Jemma shook her head, “I told Coulson that they removed the trackers from his shoe and watch and they must have disabled the one planted in his arm,” she shuddered, considering for a moment the ways in which they would have gone about that, “I’m as clueless to his whereabouts as everyone else.”

“Jemma, when you were at the Shield academy, you worked with trackers, didn’t you?” May asked.

“Yes, but only somewhat. Fitz engineered half a dozen new models which are still in use today but I don’t see how-”

“I read about your work with them. In one of the early papers, you mention that you had a prototype for a tooth implant that you were working on.”

Jemma gasped, memories of her second year at the academy flooding her brain. 

She and Fitz had been working on a small implant that would be inserted behind a filling for a cavity and would be invisible to both the human and mechanical eye. It was one of their brightest ideas at the time considering how hard it was to completely hide trackers from machines. In the end, however, the fact that the implant required the person it was intended for to have a cavity, it deemed a bit impractical and so they had moved on but not before Fitz had managed to, through a gross lack of personal hygiene that Jemma quickly put a stop to after finding out about it, give himself his first ever cavity. 

“We were so excited about the tracker that when- when Fitz got his cavity - we decided to try it on him. It worked for the most part but it only supplied longitude and latitude coordinates and not the altitude so we called it a failure.”

“But you never removed it.”

“No, that would mean we would have had to pull out his filling first….”

“So the tracker is still in him?”

“Yes,” Jemma breathed.

In record time, May was back with Jemma’s laptop in tow and the younger girl frantically searched through her old databases from the academy, searching for the tracking program that Fitz had set up and tuned to his own left molar. 

The program was old, almost a decade had passed since they had first come up with the idea, but the whole idea behind the tooth-tracker was that it would be a permanent implant and that meant that Fitz had taken special care in making sure the program was stable enough to last.

Sure enough, as Jemma typed in the command to locate Fitz, a single green dot appeared on the screen, blinking softly in the middle of the Andes.

Jemma looked at the dot that told her Fitz’ location and felt her throat constrict with emotion. For the first time in two days, she knew where he was.

“There he is,” she managed, trying to not cry as she turned the computer around to show the two agents.

May and Bobbi exchanged a silent look and then Bobbi turned to Jemma.

“You’re 100% sure this is accurate?”

“Oh yes, Fitz and I made sure that the chip itself ran off of kinetic energy that the movement of the mouth opening and closing provided. Not to mention, it’s undetectable by metal or thermo scans because we put a shell around it that mimics the surface of the filling around it. I’m just glad to know that we didn’t waste that three months and that-”

Bobbi cut her off, a smile playing on her lips as Jemma became aware she had been rambling.

“Sorry, I got a bit carried away. Anyway, the only thing that matters now is telling the team where Fitz is and-”

“We’re not telling the team.”

Jemma’s head snapped up from where she had been watching the dot that was Fitz blink away and stared at May.

“Why in the world not?! We finally know where Fitz is, not to mention whatever base Hydra is keeping him at and you don’t-”

“Jemma, think about it.” Bobbi said, “We finally finally have an upper hand on Hyrda. They don’t think we can track Fitz but thanks to you, we can. No one besides us three knows about it and, if we want to maintain the element of surprise, we have to keep it that way.”

“So what are you suggesting? That we just do nothing with this information while Fitz-”

“We get him out.”

May said it so simply that it took Jemma a moment to process what she had said. 

“When you say we you mean-”

“You, Bobbi, and myself, yes.”

Jemma stared at the both of them in shock. It was one thing to go into the field with an entire team behind her, it was another thing entirely to go into the field with two other people at her back and nothing else to fall back on.

“We have a rough plan and from the looks of things, it might be a little easier than we thought.” Bobbi began. “With our small party, we should be able to locate the base and infiltrate it without being noticed. Once inside-”

May almost smiled as she held up a disk, “We let Daisy have some fun.”

“But I thought you said it was just going to be the three of us on this mission?”

“Oh it will be, this is a device that we had made for Daisy just before the fall of Shield. She programed in a nasty virus that attacks any and all nearby electronic devices. If we set this off in the middle of Hydra’s base, they will find themselves quite busy while we hopefully get Fitz out.”

Jemma sat in stunned silence. The way the two senior agents had laid out the plan made it sound so easy and her heart constricted at the thought of seeing Fitz again. But yet, something just didn’t ring true.

“Why are you really doing this?” she asked, “It’s not just to get Fitz back, is it?”

“No,” Bobbi sighed, “No, it isn’t. The other reason we’re doing this is to see what information we can get from Hydra while we are there. The virus has a nice side effect where it dumps any data it finds into a secure server that Shield has. The more time it has to dig, the more information we get.”

Jemma nodded, that part made sense, but as she looked at May, the woman who hadn’t quite been the same since Andrew’s disappearance, she saw herself in the agent for possibly the first time in her short life. .

“You want to know where they took him. Where they took Andrew.” It wasn’t a question but May nodded anyway.

“We only have a small window of opportunity here. If we wait too long… well we just can’t wait. We’re heading out tomorrow from the hangar at 5. Are you coming with us?”

“Why do you even need me to come along? Surely the two of you would be quicker getting in and out without having to worry about me?”

“Fitz is most likely being tortured.” The words were like a punch to Jemma’s gut “And so, we will need you there to A. keep him calm and B. assess his physical stability and do any first aid that you can.”

“You can hold your own in a tough situation, Jemma. I saw that in you when we were undercover at Hydra.”

Jemma took a moment to process everything. What they had proposed was not only incredibly dangerous but would also violate Coulson’s trust. It was a gamble that they would be able to even find the Hydra base, let alone get inside, but if they managed to get Fitz out...

Jemma took a steady breath and looked up at Bobbi. 

“I’m in.”


	2. Chapter 2

Somewhere under twenty thousand feet of rock, Jemma Simmons shivered.

Ahead of her, she could see Bobbi crouched by the corner, as she poked her head around to see if anyone was coming. May followed behind both of them, her movements silent and lithe as her keen ears strained to pick up any sign of approach.

So far, their venture into the underbelly of Hydra had all gone according to plan.

After successfully hijacking one of the quinjets, the three agents had flown across the continent to a section of the Andes Mountains that straddled the border between Peru and Bolivia. Jemma, who had absolutely zero experience with flying planes, had tried to make herself useful on the flight by going through all the tactical and medical gear they had brought along.

Since Fitz’ condition was unknown, she had prepared for the worst. Not only did she have extra blood bags full of his blood type - O positive - but she also had the necessary trauma and injury kits that they always carried into extremely dangerous missions. 

Jemma had bustled around the back of the plane, turning it into a miniature version of the hospital bay back at the lab. Her eyes had occasionally been drawn to the small blinking dot on her tablet that marked the spot where Fitz was being held captive.

The closer their marker got to it, the tighter the knot of nerves in her stomach curled. May had pulled her aside while Bobbi was readying the jet for takeoff and had a short talk with her.

“You have to prepare yourself for the real possibility that Fitz may be dead or dying when we find him.” she had said,” No matter what, you cannot lose yourself while we are in there. If you slip up or make too much noise, all three of us are as good as dead, do you understand?”

The words, though they had sent a rush of ice through her veins, were not said harshly, and Jemma knew that May wasn’t trying to be cruel, just realistic.

“I understand.” she had managed to respond, “I’ll keep my head while are in there.”

The older agent had nodded and given her shoulder a squeeze before saying “I know it will be hard for you to see him like that but Fitz wouldn’t want you to die for his sake. He already saved you once by giving himself up, don’t make his sacrifice in vain.”

For the second time in twenty-four hours, Jemma had wanted to scream, Why is he allowed to sacrifice himself for me but I’m not allowed to do the same for him? but had kept her mouth shut as May walked away.

She had set in the back of the jet, watching the dot blink away, and couldn’t help but think about the words that May had said to her.

He could be dead.

He could be dead.

He could be dead.

They had played over and over in her head like some twisted song that Jemma couldn’t seem to get out of her mind, and she felt the beginnings of a panic attack set in.

“Jemma,” Bobbi’s voice had pulled her out of her trance 

“We’re going to be touching down soon. Our location should be far enough away from where we think the base is that they won’t be able to detect us.” she had paused, seeming to realize how close to losing it Jemma was, and had walked up beside her.

“Hey, listen, breathe Jemma. I mean really, breathe. In and out come on, let’s do it together.”

Jemma had taken strangled breaths alongside Bobbi and, slowly, had felt herself calm down some.

“Feeling better?” Bobbi asked after they were done, her eyes watching the younger girl closely.

“Yes, thank you. It’s just… with everything happening…”

Bobbi had placed her hand on Jemma’s shoulder and squeezed lightly.

“I know. Every time Hunter comes back hurt from a mission I just…. I feel it as if it was my own body that had taken the beating, you know? It’s incredibly hard to watch the people you love suffer and be powerless to help them.”

“How do you cope with it? Both you and Hunter do this stuff so often.”

Bobbi had surprised her by laughing.

“Jemma, we don’t. It’s the reason Hunter and I got divorced in the first place. Both of us want the other to stay out of field work but neither of us are willing to give it up ourselves.”

“But you two still love each other! Why get divorced if you know nothing is going to change?”

Bobbi had simply shrugged, “I guess both of us thought that, maybe, if we pretend that we didn’t care about each other then we would stop. We didn’t, as you can see, but I don’t think either of us really thought we would. Once you love someone, you really don’t ever stop. Hunter is a part of me and I’m a part of him. We love each other in our silly way and I can’t imagine it any differently.”

Jemma hadn’t known how to respond. Her feelings for Fitz for the first ten years of their friendship had been so simple. He was her best friend and she loved him like a brother. But then… everything had changed when she had stood in front of him and watched him press a button that would lead to his death all in the name of saving her. Even if he hadn’t said it less than a minute before, she guessed that she would have known that she was seeing his love for her in action in that moment.

Bobbi had shocked out of her thoughts, saying, “By the way, it’s better sometimes to try and not think too much about love. It’s a messy raw emotion that has little basis in fact and rationality from what I’ve seen. You’ll drive yourself mad trying to fit the pieces together.”

“Doesn’t that terrify you?”

“Yes, but let me tell you, the happiness it brings is unparalleled.” Bobbi had turned to head back to the front of the plane as they began their descent. “It’s okay to feel everything you feel, Jemma.” she had said over her shoulder. “It’s okay and it’s human and… you shouldn’t keep it to yourself for too long.”

Jemma had watched Bobbi walk away, and hardly had any time to process what she had said before the seat belt lights flicked on and she strapped herself in to the nearest seat, wondering when science had ceased to explain everything to her.

After they had touched down in a small valley about a mile away from the base, they had strapped on their kevlar and guns before May and Bobbi had gone on a quick scouting mission. When they had returned nearly a half hour later, they had confirmed that their assumptions about the base being dug into the base of the mountain had been correct.

“There isn’t much on the outside,” May had said, showing Jemma the few pictures she had snapped with one of their micro cameras, “But there are always ventilation shafts and that’s our entrance.”

Jemma had to admit, at first glance, the base of the mountain looked deserted. Only a slight shift in the color of the roof and sparse plants that clung to the rocky exterior alerted her to the fact that the mountain was not as natural as it seemed.

“We found a vent here,” Bobbi had said, pointing to a picture of a pile of boulders about twenty meters from the entrance of the base. “It’s out of the range of their cameras so hopefully, we can get in without being seen.”

Jemma had nodded and then, grabbing the medical gear that they would need for Fitz, followed the two agents off of the plane.

In other circumstances, the beautiful rugged expanse of the Andes would have dazzled her. Out in the middle of the mountains there were no signs of human life, and the snow capped peaks cut them off from the outside world completely.

But the kevlar (which was making her sweat through her undershirt) and the backpack full of emergency first aid supplies on her back brought her quickly back to reality any time she became distracted by the mountain’s beauty.

When they had reached the vent that May and Bobbi had talked about, May used a small laser to cut through the heavy metal grate over the shaft as Bobbi and Jemma stood watch over her. After quietly putting the grate to the side, May had slipped inside, followed by Jemma and Bobbi, who had pulled the cut off piece back over their heads in an attempt to mask their entrance.

Once they were sure they had made it into the base itself, Bobbi pulled out the bug that Daisy had designed and set it off.

“Hopefully, they will think it’s an external attack since we made such a discreet entrance,” Bobbi said, stowing the small metal circle back into her breast pocket “But still, we need to be as quick as possible.”

They had then proceeded to crawl through the small metal duct until they had reached a place that they had estimated was close to where Fitz was being kept. Jemma had programed the tracker system into her phone and they crawled their way through the vents in search of the exact coordinates that they had been given.

Everything had been going well until they had reached the end of the ventilation shaft.

Jemma had double-checked their location and seen with dismay that they were still several hallways away from Fitz.

“They must have installed several sets of vents,” May said after Jemma had relayed the information to her. “The ones over Fitz are probably specific to the holding facilities. We’ll have to continue on the ground from here.”

Bobbi had dropped down first, as silent and as graceful as a cat, and had made sure the coast was clear before the other two joined her in the stark-white hallway.

Now, as they crept along towards Fitz’s cell, Jemma couldn’t help but expect to run into guards at any moment. They had come upon two guards, who had had their backs to them, shortly after coming out from the vents, but Bobbi and May made such quick work of them that Jemma hardly had any time to be scared before they were knocked out and shoved into the closest closet they could find.

As they crept up to the last corner, Bobbi held up her hand for them to stop.

“Two guards outside a door labeled ‘Containment Units’,” Bobbi whispered drawing closer to them.

“I’ve got left if you’ve got right?” May offered.

Bobbi nodded and the two of them lined up next to each other at the corner before swinging around and each firing a single silent ICER round into their chests.

Even though neither agent had any qualms about killing Hydra agents, ICERS were much quieter than guns and caused less mess so they had decided to go with them in the end. Jemma was relieved when they had made that choice. Even though she hadn’t used her ICER yet, she clutched the gun in her hands and had it raised whenever they went around a corner. She had changed a lot from the girl she was before, who could hardly pick up a gun, let alone fire one, but the prospect of killing anyone still made her stomach twist.B

Bobbi set to work on the lock on the door while Jemma and May stood guard. After a moment, she got it open and all three of them advanced down the hallway.

Jemma had long since memorized the coordinates were Fitz was, so her eyes followed her own as they made their way down the hall.

“It’s this one,” Jemma said at last, her voice sounding strange in her ears as she pointed to the third room on the left.

“You’re sure?” May asked, her eyes warning Jemma that they only had one shot at getting the right door.

“Yes,” she managed, “Let’s get him out.”

The lock on this door was a keypad and, due to the virus that was currently flooding the Hydra system, the door had bolted itself shut, leaving them with no choice but to use the laser cutter on it.

As they had suspected, as soon as it swung open, backup alarms sprung to life and the air was filled with sirens.

“You’ve got less than a minute to get him standing, Jemma, go.” May said, shoving her forwards as she and Bobbi took up posts on either side of the door.

Jemma stumbled into the dim cell, trying her hardest not to accidently step on Fitz. Her eyes took a moment to adjust, but the smell hit her nose instantly, and made even her iron stomach roll.

The cell smelled of unbathed human skin, the iron smell of blood, and excrement, all of which she should have expected but somehow didn’t.

Then she saw him.

“Oh, Fitz,” she gasped, as she knelt down beside him.

Fitz’ right eye was swollen up with deep bruising, and his curls were matted with blood and something else that she didn’t want to think about. His clothing was ripped and bloody and his right sleeve had been ripped away entirely, showcasing a wound on his forearm where they had cut his tracker out.

He didn’t appear to be conscious but Jemma’s heart calmed a little as she checked his pulse and found it, though it was not as strong as she was used to.

“Fitz, Fitz! Please wake up!” She called to him, shaking his shoulders a little to accelerate the process.

With a groan, Fitz’ left eye opened, and she could see the familiar blue of his eyes as he gazed up at her.

He startled her then by reaching up and cupping her cheek in his hand.

“Amazing,” he breathed, his voice slurring a bit, whether from pain or from a bitten tongue Jemma didn’t quite know, “You look…. even more real this time.”

“Fitz, it’s me, Jemma. We have to get you out of here, can you stand?”

“Hmmm,” he hummed and ran his fingers through her ponytail, “I don’t know why I always imagine you with your hair up like this. It’s so much prettier when it’s down.”

Seeing that he was half hallucinating and knowing that time was ticking down, there was little left for her to do. She tried to be as gentle as possible while still startling him as she slapped him across the face.

“Oi! What was that for?” Fitz cried, pulling back from her to rub his face.

“Ftiz, focus. Bobbi, May, and I are here to rescue you. Can you stand?”

He blinked a few times, as if to see if she would go away. When she didn't, he groaned and staggered to his feet.

“Tell me you’re real. Tell me this is all real and we’re leaving.,” he begged, leaning heavily on the wall.

“Fitz,” she started, and then leaned forward to rest her forehead against his for half a heartbeat. “It’s me. I’m real.”

His blue eyes burned into hers and he took a shuddering breath.

“Right. Let’s move. My arm got the worst of it although my right calf is pretty cut up. I should be able to walk if you let me lean on you.”

“Of course, but first,” she swung her bag off of her shoulder and pulled out some pain pills and bandages, “Take these, and let me wrap up your arm. I don’t have time to clean it but hopefully, it will stop you from losing too much more blood.

Fitz nodded and swallowed the pills she had given him as she quickly wrapped gauze tightly around his arm. Her main concern was that the wound on his arm would become infected, but with the limited light in the small cell, and the layer of filth that covered Fitz, she couldn’t determine the actual state of it. 

Once she was finished, Fitz wrapped his good arm around her shoulders and she wrapped one of hers around his waist.

“Let’s move.”

\------

It was perhaps the most inappropriate and out of place thought she could be having at that moment in time but, as Jemma and Fitz followed by Bobbi and led by May limped through Hydra's base, she couldn't’ help but think “He’s put on muscle.”

As she gripped his waist, she found muscle where there had once been bone and it was turning out to be extremely distracting.

She tried to focus on his ragged breathing or the sound of the sirens around them, but his physical proximity and the new found muscles beneath her hand keep demanding her attention. 

She was almost grateful when a squad of soldiers rounded the corner and she had to force Fitz down and around the corner as Bobbi and May took them on.

However, this did result in her being pressed up against Fitz’ chest as they tried to avoid bullets and give Bobbi and May room to work.

Fitz’ uninjured arm pulled her closer as a shot ricocheted off the wall and despite everything, she felt something similar to calm as she pressed her forehead to his shoulder. 

“Guys, change of plans.” Jemma jumped away from Fitz as Bobbi called to them from over her shoulder. “We’re not taking the vent out.”

“But why?” Jemma exclaimed, ignoring the faint blush that lingered on her neck.

“Because he won’t be able to crawl like that and besides, this guy,” she nudged one of the men at her feet “Tried to call for backup and said that they were in the hallway outside of the hangars, so we’re close.”

Jemma nodded and looped her arm around Fitz’s waist to help him walk as they made their way to what was hopefully the hangars. Soon enough, they found the hangar doors and, after realizing that they were on the fritz because of the bug worming its way through Hydra’s system, Bobbi and May pried them open. The hangar wasn’t exactly massive, but after the close quarters of the hallway it seemed huge, and Jemma felt extremely exposed.

They stuck to the wall as they made their way to the other side, where another set of doors opened to the outside. Jemma was growing increasingly concerned about Fitz’ condition. Though he was still limping along, his breathing was becoming more shallow and strained and, when she looked up at his face, she saw that was a grey pallor underneath the layer of grime that covered it.

They were incredibly close to the doors, less than twenty feet, when shoots began ringing out. 

Ducking down behind an old engine part, Jemma peeked out and saw that Hydra soldiers were taking shelter behind one of the planes as Bobbi and May returned fire.

“Jemma,” Fitz’ voice caused her to turn and look at him while she tried to work out a way out of the hanger “You guys could probably make it to the door if you left me here. Go and-”

In that instant, Jemma felt rage like she hadn’t known before surge through her entire body and she grabbed his jaw, effectively shutting him up.

“I swear to god Leopold Fitz. If you try to pull that hero bit right now, I will smack you again. Why the hell do you think we are here right now? We are here to save you. We came in here knowing full well that there was a high possibility of us never getting back out and what the would be the point of all this in the first place if we left you?”

Fitz looked thoroughly shocked at her outburst but tried again, “But Jemma, think about it. Your chances of survival increase dramatically without my dead weight and-”

“You are not dead weight, do you hear me?” she damaged, tugging his face closer to her.

“Jemma, why are you doing all of this? Why are you here?”

“I’m here for you, I thought that was obvious.”

“Yeah, but why?”

Jemma blinked, confused at the look on Fitz’ face. “What do you mean?”

“I gave myself up to them knowing full well that I might die. I let you go so you could live. So you could be free. Why are you throwing that away?”

In that moment, a lot of things becoming exactly clear to Jemma Simmons. One, that she had never really appreciated the incredible color of blue that were Fitz’ eyes, two, she had somehow managed to find the most incredible idiot of a genius on the face of the earth and three, she was completely and utterly in love with this silly man and he had no idea.

She was so close to his face that kissing him wasn’t exactly hard and, as she pressed her lips to his in their fourth kiss, she tried to convey everything that she had just realized to him.

I need you

I missed you

I love you

When she pulled back, she didn’t go far. Fitz’ face was a mask of something akin to awe and as she stared into his slightly dazed eyes, she finally said the words that has been stuck in the back of her throat for the past year and a half.

“I’m here because the thought of life without is so incredibly sad and horrible that I cannot bear to think about it. I’m here to haul your butt back to the Playground and take care of you until you’re healed and then beat you over the head for being such a self-sacrificing idiot. I’m here because I’m done passively waiting around for myself to try and rationalize my feelings for you. I’m here to fight for you because Fitz,” she looked him dead in the eye “I’m desperately in love with you and I’m never letting you go again.”

Fitz stared at her, his mouth hanging open, as he processed what she said but before he had time to respond, Bobbi was telling them to run.

Jemma hauled Fitz up beside her and they both took off after Bobbi while Many covered them from behind.

Just as Bobbi cleared the door, Jemma turned around. Later, she would have no explanation for that turn. It was much to loud for her to have heard the pull of the trigger. May was too busy behind them to have warned her. Fitz said that he didn’t notice anything until she was already pulling away from him. But, in that moment, she just knew that something bad was about to happen and, as she turned, Jemma Simmons found herself staring down a man who was trying to shoot Fitz.

As she turned, shoved Fitz, and felt the bullet bury itself deep into her side, she recalled a conversation that she had had with Bobbi soon after she had returned from the Monolith.

“I’ve got that old feeling again. Like Hunter is in trouble.”

Her cry of pain was blocked out by the general chaos of the room but Fitz had seen everything. His eyes were wide with her shared pain and anger and he urged her through the door, slipping back under her arm to help support her as well now.

“Come on Jemma,” he gasped, as they stumbled after Bobbi “Come on, love. We’re almost there. We can get there.”

Jemma’s world had narrowed down to pain and Fitz. He was a warm, strong presence beside her and she leaned into her as much as he leaned into her, both of them managing to keep the other upright and moving as they struggled to freedom.

Suddenly, she wasn’t walking on broken rocks or even grass. Metal was under her feet and Jemma almost cried with happiness.

They had made it.

\------

The next thing Jemma was aware of was the cool press of metal against the side of her face and the sound of Bobbi muttering as she ripped the kevlar off of her side.

“How is she? Oh God, please tell me she’s alright, Bobbi.”

Fitz. Fitz’ voice floated into her ears like the most beautiful music she had ever heard and the sound of it brought her more fully back into her body.

“It doesn’t look like it went too deeply into her flesh, the kevlar saved her from the worst of it.” Bobbi was saying as Jemma blinked open her eyes to the similar interior of the quinjet.

“Jemma!” Fitz’ face pushed into her field of vision and she almost cried as she looked up into his beautiful blue eyes.

“Fitz,” she managed, trying to smile a bit through the burning in her side.

“Oh thank God,” he muttered, and she felt his hand brush over her forehead.

“Jemma,” Bobbi interrupted them and she turned her head slightly to find the other female agent by her side. “I don’t think the bullet went very far in but I’ll need to get it out before I stop the bleeding, okay?”

Suddenly, a thought roared through her head and she whipped around to stare at Fitz again, ignoring the rush of dizziness from moving so quickly.

“Why isn’t Fitz being taken care of!”? She cried, “Bobbi why-”

“Your wound was the most pressing since you bandaged up my arm,” Fitz interrupted, taking her hand and pressing it to his lips briefly “I wanted you to be seen to first.”

Jemma felt a spark of anger curl in her belly at the comment.

“Fitz, we’ve been over this and-”

“I agreed with him, Jemma.” Bobbi cut her, as she bent down next to Jemma and numbed the area around the bullet hole making Jemma sigh with relief,“As soon as I’m done with you, I’ll see to him straight away, I promise.”

Faced with the two of them teaming up against her, she resigned herself to pout, which turned out to be much harder than she had originally thought it would be. This was mostly due to Fitz gazing down at her as if he couldn’t believe she was real and pressing the back of her hand to his lips and mouthing words that she couldn’t quite make out against her skin.

When Bobbi finally finished up sewing up her side, she helped Jemma stand up, and moved her to sit down on one of the two beds in the makeshift hospital in the back of the plane. Bobbi directed Fitz to lie down on the other.

Even though Jemma was still feeling lightheaded, she assisted Bobbi with identifying the best way to deal with the most pressing of Fitz’ wounds.The jagged cut on his arm where they had dug out his tracker looked no better in the strong medical lights, and she felt a fresh rush of anger at Hydra for what they had done to him.

She and Bobbi debated for a while over the best course of action while Bobbi cleaned the wound in Fitz’s arm. She decided that it needed stitches one way or another, even if it was going to leave a nasty scar in it’s wake.

“Look on the bright side, Fitz.” Bobbi joked as she prepared to give him stitches, “Your macho factor will go up significantly with a badass scar on your arm. Chicks dig scars with a good story behind them.”

Fitz laughed but turned to look at Jemma as he said, “Oh yeah? Even if they helped you patch it up?”

Jemma gave the hand that she had been holding since he had laid down on the bed a squeeze and said “Oh yeah, it still totally counts.”

“Good,” he said with a smile, “Because I’d hate to loose all those extra macho points.”

Jemma truly laughed at that and, for the first time in days, she felt like herself again. 

Once the stronger pain medicine that they had given Fitz took effect, he slipped into a restful sleep and Jemma was left holding his limp hand in hers as they flew home.

“Hey,” she looked up to see Bobbi standing at the door to the cockpit. “You did good today. There aren’t many people I know who would have gotten through that.”

“Even though I got shot?”

Bobbi smiled, “You got shot protecting someone you love. To me, that doesn’t take away from your performance. If anything, it makes it all the more impressive.”

“I’ll have to tell Fitz when he wakes up that we’ve both been called impressive by you today. It’s something we’ll both treasure.”

Bobbi laughed and Jemma watched her smile turn fond as she looked to where their hands were linked between the beds.

“You look happier than I’ve seen you in weeks, Jemma.”

“That’s because I am.” she replied, feeling the truth of the words in her whole body.

“Did you finally figure it all out then?”

“No, but I decided that all I really need to know is that I love him and everything else can come in time. After all, I don’t think there has ever been a problem that the two of us can’t solve together.”

“I’m happy for you and for him. He loves you so much, Jemma.”

“I know,” she smiled as she looked at the older agent, “It’s about time that I showed him that I feel the exact same, wouldn't you say?”

“Yes, I would. I’m looking forward to watching how things go from here on out. That is, if Coulson doesn’t skin us alive when we get back.

Jemma groaned, having almost forgotten that they had gone behind the director's back in order to save Fitz.

Bobbi laughed once more before walking out the door and into the cockpit.

Jemma must have dozed for a bit after that because the next thing she was aware of was a gentle hand caressing her face.

“Oh sorry,” Fitz’ expression was sheepish as he pulled his hand back.

“You don’t have to apologize,” she half yawned, and smiled at him “It felt nice.”

Fitz’ answering smile was like the sun coming out and she struck once again by how much she loved him and how much she loved the fact that she could finally admit that to herself.

“Also, before you ask, yes I meant every word that I said out there.” She said, as he returned his hand to her face “Everything.”

“Including the part where- were you said-,” he stammered over his words like he hadn’t done in a long time.

Jemma reached up to grab his hand with her own and brought the back of it to her mouth like Fitz had done while she was laying on the floor of the plane early.

“All of it. Including the part where I’m in love with you.”

Fitz gaze returned to the look of awe she had seen after she kissed him and she gave his hand a squeeze. 

“I’m tired of trying to lie to myself, Fitz. I want you. I think I always have, it just took me a little while to figure it out.”

“Bobbi told me I’m not supposed to get up but-” Fitz wiggled his hand out of her grip and used it to grab her bed and pull it closer to his “that doesn’t mean I can’t do this.”

With that, he scooted over so they were lying close enough for his to wrap his arm around her waist and she look the opportunity to nuzzle into his shoulder.

“I think my feelings on the matter are pretty clear,” he muttered into her hair, “but just in case, I’m in love with you too, Jemma.”

She smiled into him, ignoring the fact that both of them were filthy to press a kiss there was well.

“For best friends, we’re awful at this whole communication thing, huh?” she asked as she felt the tiredness that she has been keeping at bay creep up now that she was happy and comfortable in Fitz’s arms.

“That we are. We should really work on that.” He agreed, his fingers rubbing small sleepy circles into her back as he struggled to keep his own eyelids open.

“We will,” she yawned and snuggled close to him as she gave into sleep. “Goodnight Fitz, I love you.”

“I love you too,” he muttered and sleep claimed the both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wheeee! There we go, the happy ending that we were all looking for :)
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed reading this, I had a lot of fun writing it! Here's hoping that 3X09 doesn't actually rip our hopes and dreams apart (even tho it probably will)
> 
> I may write an afterthought for this? I haven't decided. It will probably just be fluff if I do so let me know if you'd like to see that!

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to my lovely beta Hollie for editing this even though she's not in the fandom haha. It's been a long time since I've written multi-chapter fics so bear with me if the pacing from chapter to chapter is a bit off. 
> 
> Anyway, so yeah. This fic was basically a product of my need for Jemma to fight for Fitz for once and some of the speculation after the original trailer for 3X09 came out. 
> 
> However, after reading the press releases for both episodes, I'm pretty sure Jemma is going to be taken by Hydra and Fitz will have to save here. Again. 
> 
> So, I'll just go ahead and file this one under the "This isn't what's going to happen but MAN do I wish it was" category.
> 
> Enough of my rambles. I hope you enjoyed this first chapters and the ones to come!
> 
> (Also, originally, I was going to name this fic after the Hebrew word for Life since it's pretty much the opposite of what I think is going to happen in Maveth (death) but did you know that apparently Life translates to Chai? So I decided against that all things considered, but I thought I would throw that in here because I thought it was mildly amusing. Tea really does equal life it seems.)


End file.
